Thats a really good question on why they haven't lasted.
My take is this:
In Russian service maintenance has been a joke at best. Stored outside, exposed to the weather, and hardly used. That destroys an Airframe faster than anything.
In German/Polish service, they lasted: In fact Poland figures they won't replace them till 2015-2020, and these airframes was made in the 80's. India also isn't having much issues with Airframe issues, save for cracking at the wing-roots, where the most stress on the aircraft is. But its an easy and cheap fix.
My 2 cents is in the maintenance of the aircraft. NATO MiG29's (And isn't that a odd phrase) get plenty of maintenance, and flight time, to sort out issues as they arrive before they become bigger issues.
I still want to see a Israeli rebuilt Fulcrum. Talk about a Fulcrum you'd have to respect.
__________________
Member of the Bofors fan club! The M1911 of automatic cannon.
Proud fan(atic) of the CV90 Series.
|